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It was a transfer of power steeped in tradition, though this year's inauguration did stray from the norm a bit. Let's talk about that and week one for Governor Cheryl with Brent Johnson, politics reporter at NJ.com and NJ Advanced Media. Brent, it's always good to see you. Always happy to be here. All right, let's talk about the speech itself. What was your takeaway from the speech? What, what really struck you? Well, she, she spoke about things that she talked about on the campaign trail, which was one, she was going to be a check on Donald Trump and that she's going to make life more affordable for New Jerseyans, which she did. Also mentioned in the speech that was kind of a two-pronged approach, but she took more swings at Trump than I kind of thought she would. She compared him to King George III and She said she was going to be a check on his power and that she made no bones about it even though she didn't mention him by name. And then she did something I didn't expect. She said she was going to sign executive orders to freeze electric rates. I didn't think she'd actually do it from the podium, so that was another notable moment. So it was a big sweeping speech that could have been aimed at people in California, as it were in New Jersey. It's interesting. The history buffs actually pointed to her use of certain passages from the Declaration of Independence. Calling for armed rebellion against King George. It was definitely pointed towards Trump, you know, it was, it was the kind of speech that could get you attention on a national stage. Some people are already chattering, you know, could this be the start of her running for president or vice president? Really already right after I mean that kind of happens with every New Jersey governor. It's a powerful governorship, and this is how she talks. She talks in a nationalized way, and this speech was the kind of speech that would get attention on CNN. So Republican Assemblyman Mike Inganimort actually released a video on socials this week after the speech. He said it was interesting. The one thing that he noticed, and he said other people have noticed as well, is that there was no mention of taxes, even though she did speak about affordability and did hold up to two executive orders freezing electric rates and addressing the energy crisis. There was no mention of taxes. Did you think that that was by design? I don't know because it is a word that people care about in New Jersey. A Rutgers poll just showed that's the number one thing that people want her to focus on if she becomes governor. So I don't know if it was by design. I mean she did talk about affordability, um, but she has said that she's not going to raise the sales tax, and that was a big deal in the campaign last year. She called him high tax Jack Chittarelli. And he said she was going to raise taxes and then she had to say no, I'm not going to raise the sales tax, so I, I expect taxes will come up at some point in the coming weeks. Uh, it, it was a week of obviously firsts for the new governor, uh, first, her first big snowstorm obviously this weekend. Also her first cabinet meeting. Uh, we actually have some video, uh, pictures of her meeting with the cabinet over a drum wacket. Are there any standout names in the cabinet to you? Yeah, well, it's notable she had a few holdovers from the Murphy administration, uh, Chris Kalori, the NJ Transit, uh, executive director, who's taking on a role. Yeah, and so I was surprised at that, but it's not really surprising because a Democrat is taking over a Democrat, which is very rare in New Jersey. And, uh, but there were also some names. One of the commissioners is from North Carolina. There, there's, she's definitely trying to do a few things differently than Murphy while still keeping what she thinks apparently is working. So it, it's notable in that there's a little bit of a mix of both. How have Republicans by and large reacted to this first week? Uh, she also had 6 executive orders on the first day alone. I, I saw Anthony Bucco, who is the state Senate minority leader. He said, we are willing to work with Governor, this was after her speech, we're willing to work with Governor Cheryl, but she also should know that if she doesn't do what she says she's gonna do to help New Jerseyans make things more affordable, then we're going to call her out and we'll challenge her. So I've, I've noticed that it's after last year's election, Cheryl won by 14 points, so Republicans are kind of on their heels. So it's really hard to come out swinging against her when you know that voters went the other way. But you know, election day is done and there's a new, I expect there to be firework, yeah, she is, she's a few weeks away from putting out her state budget address, so. I can't imagine Republicans are going to be like, you know, good job there. So as we're speaking today, we just found out about another new executive order that the governor signed. It's a 90 day pause on the proposal on adoption of new rules. What is this pertaining to and why is this significant? Basically it's. Housing regulations for 3 months that there will be no new regulations or rules put in place. Basically it has to do with affordability though to make sure that it makes fiscal sense. Yeah, the idea is that she's trying to live up to it's kind of like she's speaking to two audiences, two audiences. You have the anti-Donald Trump crowd, which she's definitely trying to speak to, and then you have the regular New Jerseyans, a lot of people who don't pay attention to politics who want to know this is a high cost state. I pay the highest property taxes in the country. Something has to be done to help my purse strings. So this is more of that in the sense. Notably, Chris Christie did the same thing when he took office, uh, what is now 16 years ago. It's hard to believe, isn't it? I know, yeah. All right, so you dusted off the tux, or I did, and you went to the inaugural ball. I did go to the inaugural ball. I had the ball at the mall, an American Dream. All right, so describe that because it must have been very interesting dichotomy having, having the ball there. You've got people shopping. It was strange and that's. The the assignment from my company was go rent a tux and document the ball at the mall. So I went with a camera and a tuxedo, and it was weird. You're walking into this gigantic shopping center, massive mega mall, and you have people shopping just like people, you know, going from store to store, and then you have all these people in gowns and tuxedos walking past the Nickelodeon amusement park and going right there. It's where the ball was. It was at the ice rink, but it was covered. No one was wearing skates. But, um, so it was just a weird vibe, but it's kind of what Cheryl's kind of going for. She Trying to say she's going to buck the status quo and be different, you know, she had her inauguration in Newark and not Trenton like usual, so it was, it was, it was a scene is what I would say. It must have been a spectacle. How did people who were just there with their families to shop react to all this? There was one of, one of our, one of our fellow reporters, Aliyah Schneider of the Philly Enquirer, had a video of people in Texas walking through the It's Sugar candy store because they didn't know how to get to the ice rink, and they were shoppers just being like, what was that? It's odd. New era in New Jersey in many ways. Do you think that just talk about the governor's demeanor, the way she was enjoying the night there. Was there anything notable about that for you? Yeah, I mean she, she was, she had a yellow gown on to match the state flag and the state bird, the goldfinch, and then she gave a toast saying, you know, I hope you know all New Jerseyans have a prosperous life and get time down the shore. And then at the end of the night, naughty by Nature, the New Jersey hip hop troupe took the stage, and Cheryl, who is 54 and a Gen Xer. Took the stage and danced and jumped and rapped along to OPP, um, uh, so that was unexpected too, but although Chris, to be fair, Chris Christie did sing with the B Street Band, the Bruce Springsteen cover band at his inauguration, and Phil Murphy leapt on stage when he was, when he was elected. So we've seen governors do a few weird things. All right, Brendan Johnson, it's always good to see you. Thanks for coming in. My pleasure. And keep it right here on Power and Politics. Up next, the results of a cane in your corner investigation resulting in a new law here in New Jersey.

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A cane in your corner investigation leads to permanent change for survivors of sexual assault. Moments before leaving office, Governor Murphy signed a new law requiring law enforcement to test all rape kits that survivors want tested. Senior investigative reporter Walt Kane has more on what this means for survivors. For survivors of sexual assault, this is a change that could make all the difference in the world. Many survivors told us they didn't feel law enforcement took their assaults seriously, and to them, the proof was that even after spending hours getting their bodies swabbed for DNA, their rape kits were not even tested. Well, under the new law that should never happen again. People who are supposed to help me and just kind of. Made it feel like everything was my fault. Morrison is one of the survivors whose stories we told in Victims of the System. Prosecutors declined to pursue her case even though she had recorded her attacker apologizing for raping her. And because the prosecutor would not pursue the case, Lena's rape kit was never tested. It was just sitting gathering dust. Lena, now hopeful this new law will mean no one else will have to go through what she did. I feel wonderful. This is exactly what I wanted since the beginning. I just wanted, you know, something good to come out of this experience and just to know that Future victims, hopefully this is gonna make a difference. That was Walt Kane reporting. Now, in the course of their investigation, the Kane and Rear Corner team produced a documentary. Because of the passage of the new law, we're going to update that documentary to watch the new victims of the system report. Go to our News 12 YouTube channel. Uh, for the next time, uh, for the first time rather in 6 years, New Jersey's e-bike laws have changed. Before leaving office, Governor Murphy signed a bill into law bringing sweeping changes to the rules and regulations regarding. motorized bicycles and scooters, riders 14 and under are banned from using e-bikes. Riders 15 to 17 years old will need a motorized bicycle license. Riders 17 and older carrying a valid New Jersey driver's license would not need a separate license to operate e-bikes. All e-bikes must be insured and registered. The bill gained traction this year after several high profile chases and fatal crashes involving e-bikes. While many questions remain about how police will enforce the law, some people say that the regulations go too far. The law will provide a 6 month grace period for owners to get caught up on the registration and licensing process. And that'll do it for this week. I'm Eric Landskronner. As always, we thank you for watching New Jersey Power and Politics. Be sure to stay tuned for storm coverage all weekend long.

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Gov. Mikie Sherrill sat down for a one-on-one interview with News 12. 

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